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Great purchase for lots of driving fun!

This was one of the first non-baby toys we bought for our son and it was well worth the money. This is a car dashboard which can (in theory) be clamped on to a buggy or table or used in the car etc. It features a steering wheel, horn, music buttons, mirrors etc. It also has a key which plays an engine revving noise when turned. All of the features are easy to use and activate and my son loved to pretend he was driving his buggy. Even as a baby he loved to press the music buttons to activate the two happy tunes. This is a quality toy although the clamp fixings can be a little tricky to position in a way that you can attach it wherever you want. Given this point, it does sometimes fall off. As a consequence, our one of these has taken something of a bashing over the years but has remained in really good condition. Nothing has snapped off or stopped working. I would recommend this toy for both boys and girls from around 6 months upwards.

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Fun on the move for baby.

The buggy driver was a gift to my baby and was not just his first motor, it was his first toy!

The buggy driver is made by the Early Learning Centre so can be bought in their stores but also in Mothercare and some other stores and toy shops. The retail price is £20, however, it is currently on offer at £16 and has been priced as low as £8. It currently comes in two colour ways - red, which is in my opinion gender neutral, and pink which pitches the toy at girls.

This is an electronic toy, with lights and sounds, that requires 2AA batteries. After three plus months of light use, the batteries in mine show no sign of flagging yet. The toy clips on to a pram, buggy, or even a bouncer so baby can pretend to drive. The clips provided are very flexible in terms of adjusting the grip to accommodate different sized bars and changing the angle of the toy to suit the child. They also attach very firmly so there is little chance of this item slipping off. At the same time, they are very easy to release so it is not a nuisance to take the toy on and off.

The buggy driver has numerous activities. First, there is the ignition key that turns the whole item on whilst producing a sound like a Vauxhall Viva circa 1970. A red light on the toy then indicates that it is on. Two mirrors allow your budding Jensen Button to check for other drivers or, in the case of little Loz, to check he is still looking good! The steering wheel is central and comes with a horn in the centre to warn those other babies in slower moving buggy's to get out of the way. A gear stick can be pushed forward to produce an accelerating sound or pushed back to produce a beep beep reversing warning. Both sounds are accompanied by coloured lights coming on. Two further buttons on the dash (music centre??) play two tunes which are those old chart toppers 'pop goes the weasel' and 'she'll be coming round the mountain'.

This toy is recommended for age 3 month plus. Little Loz received this when he was just two months old. Right from the start he enjoyed the two tunes and watching the lights as I operated this while it was attached to his bouncer. By three months he was able to just about grab the steering wheel and press some of the buttons randomly. This was entertaining to watch as he seemed engaged and surprised at the effects. Then there were the mirrors - always a popular one with little Loz, he would peer in to these for quite some time. This isn't the best toy for a 3 month old as they can't do a great deal with it without Mum or Dad's help. That said, little Loz, now 6 months, is growing in to his and is able to do more and more with it and make more purposeful actions.

This isn't a toy that I would have chosen for my son due to my prejudice against plastic electronic gadgets for children, dislike of electronic music with no volume control and fear that the clip wouldn't be universal. My concern about the clip was unfounded. I'm still not sold on electronic baby toys however Little Loz does enjoy this and unfortunately for me, he loves the tinkly electronic tunes and the lights. I doubt he 'gets' the concept of pretending to drive yet but he has certainly had some fun with this. At the full price I would steer clear of this toy. At £8 it is a bargain.

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A great toy for on the move

Not being one to miss out on a bargain, I picked up the ELC Buggy Driver for £8 in a Mothercare sale when the now 20 month old Freddy was just a few weeks old. Now available in a slightly different colour scheme or pink for £20 (as well as the original colour scheme in some High Street stores), this is a toy I would recommend for the parents of any baby or young toddler, especially if they object to being sat in the buggy for more than a few minutes.

==Beep, Beep - A Parent's View==

Formed from durable, wipe clean plastic this toy is easy to attach to almost any buggy via two clamps that tighten onto the buggy frame. I especially like that the inside of these clips is made of a rubberised material, which means that it's less likely to mark the buggy. Once the screws are tightened the clamps are extremely secure and hold the driver in place even when they have to contend with a very enthusiastic toddler. Once clamped onto the buggy it's easy to move the driver into the correct position for you child to play, there are ball joints that allow it to be moved from up and down. The arms are also hinged meaning that as well as being able to fit onto average sized buggies it can also be attached to those buggies that are smaller or larger than average. We use this attached to the Tesco Value Stroller, which is smaller than average buggy and we get a good fit every time. The only problem with fitting the driver to a buggy is that it needs to be removed before the buggy is folded up, which can be a little inconvenient when using public transport.

The driver's colour scheme is perhaps not the most attractive but the colours do seem to have been designed as to be as contrasting as possible. The main dashboard is a pale, yet bright green, while the steering wheel is white with a black horn, red and green lights and red speedometer (that doesn't do anything). There is a bright yellow gearbox on the left with a red gear stick and red and green light up arrows. On the right there is another "box" which is bright red with a yellow ignition key, black speaker, pair of buttons and small red light. There are also a pair of white, adjustable wing mirrors, with black detailing and baby safe mirrors.

As you can guess from the lights, this is a battery operated toy and in fact it runs on 2 AA batteries that we have only needed to change twice in over a year of regular use. As with most baby and toddler toys, these batteries are securely hidden behind a screw closure, and as seems to be the norm you do need a tiny screwdriver to remove this screw. Although the driver does have various sounds and lights, these are fairly limited, which means that the sounds can become very repetitive. The ignition key doubles up as an on/off switch and when turned produces the sound of an engine starting and lights up the small light above the key. The buttons beside the key each play a different tune as well as causing all the lights to flash. The two tunes are "Half a pound of tuppeny rice" and "She'll be coming round the mountain", which are instantly recognisable and play for approximately thirty seconds. The gear stick produced another two sounds, an engine revving when pushed up and a reverse beep when pushed down. The final sound the driver makes is a beep when the horn is pressed. All of the sounds are at a reasonable level, although they do seem a little loud when in enclosed spaces they aren't loud enough to become irritating when constantly pressed outdoors (or even on a bus).

==Brum brum - A Child's View==

Funnily enough, this is a buggy toy designed to keep your toddler occupied while in the buggy. As such we first started using this when Freddy was about four months old and over the last sixteen months the way he's played and interacted with this has changed almost beyond recognition. Although the driver is advertised as suitable for babies over the age of three months, I really don't see how such a young baby would interact with it. At four months old the contrasting colours caught Freddy's attention and he enjoyed looking at the flashing lights but was only able to activate them by accident. I must say the gear stick is particularly sensitive and only needs minimal pressure to make a noise, which meant that a jerky arm movement was all that was needed. As time has gone on Freddy has steadily learnt to operate all the different lights and sounds, simply by trial and error. Each of the buttons is sensitive enough to only need a small amount of pressure to work, except that is the ignition key that does require a little more dexterity. Freddy also loves to look at the baby in the mirrors and I sometimes position them so that he can see me in them, which gives me the chance to interact as we play "hide-a-boo".

Although he is able to walk, Freddy has only been able to do so for about a month and so spends a lot of time in his buggy. This is something he's not too happy about, and he gets bored if I happen to have stopped for any reason and can be very vocal about this, if I have forgotten to attach the driver. If the driver is attached to the buggy I have a much longer timeframe to browse in the shops before Freddy starts to get frustrated as the driver does hold his attention for a good length of time. At twenty months, Freddy now pretends to drive the driver, turning the steering wheel, pressing the horn, pulling the gear stick and pressing the buttons. He does occasionally become fixated with pressing one button, especially the horn and then it becomes a little irritating but far less so than hearing him upset. I especially like that the sounds are loud enough for Freddy to hear them, but not so loud that they annoy everyone on the bus.

While I wouldn't say that this is in anyway a replacement for our usual interaction while using the buggy (talking about what we can see), it does keep Freddy entertained while on trips out during those periods where I am otherwise occupied. Freddy does seem to quite like the driver at other times too, and will often seek it out to play with at home.

==Half a pound - A developmental View (and more)==

As I've already stated this toy is considered suitable for babies over the age of three months, and while there is absolutely nothing about is that would cause a danger to these young babies (or even younger), I really don't think they would be able to access it without a lot of adult intervention (that sort of defies the object really). Once baby is more able to coordinate their movements (at around four to six months), it's a little more suitable as even quite jerky movements can work the gear stick or horn and eventually they will work out that they are making the noises work. The mirrors also become quite attractive at this age, but I will say that it is quite hard to position the driver if you are using a reclining pushchair.

When this toy comes into it's own is when your child is sitting up in their stroller. It's at this point they have the skills to begin to really access the different functions and the driver really does help them improve their fine motor skills and learn about cause and effect. During the following moths the driver will also help your child's role play develop as it becomes a prop as they pretend to drive. As to an upper age, well Freddy is twenty months and the driver remains as essential and entertaining as ever while we are out and about and I would imagine it will remain so until he is ready to leave the stroller far behind him (or about two).

As well as being a toy that spans several developmental stages, the driver is also very durable. We've been using ours for sixteen months now and there is barely a scratch on it, even after I accidentally dropped it down the stairs. It's also very economical with batteries, using mid-range batteries we have only needed to replace them twice over those sixteen months.

==Final Words==

The ELC Buggy Driver is a well made toy that I would recommend to the parent's of any young toddler who regularly uses a stroller. It really does help to keep them entertained while on the move and is suitable for a relatively large age range and so will last for a long time. I love the fact that it can be used on a range of different strollers and is easy to clean, while Freddy loves to press the buttons and pretend to drive. My only real gripe is that I have to undo one side to put Freddy in his buggy and remove it completely to put the buggy down.

So I'm going to give the ELC Buggy Driver four and a half stars out of five (rounded up to five) and recommend that if you have a young baby you buy one, or if you have a toddler who objects to being sat in a stroller for more than a few minutes you buy one. But I would recommend that if you can get hold of one, you buy the colour scheme we have, as the high contrast colours may not look pretty but they are more attractive to young babies. Failing that I would recommend the newer unisex colour scheme even for a girl as this is brighter than the pink and can also be used with another child once yours has outgrown it (and it is so durable it will last through two or more children).

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Brilliant for a stress free shopping trip.

ELC Light and Sound Buggy Driver.

I came across this today after getting my Christmas decorations down from the attic, I found a big box filled with lots of baby bits and bobs and I was so pleased to see this even though my little one won't have any use out of it for a few months yet!

Using this with my son was a godsend when he was in his buggy, he wasn't the most patient child and really disliked being in his pram for any amount of time, he would stiffen himself out and I'd have great difficulty in getting him to actually sit in his pram. On a shopping trip to Cardiff, we went into the Early Learning Center (ELC) and that is where I found this. I paid £20 for it and prayed it would work after a stressful hour of my son not wanting to be in his buggy.

I undone the plastic screws and clasped this onto the bars of his buggy, he was about 15 months at the time, and instantly he loved it! Before even screwing it up he was happily steering the wheel and pushing the lever, using the key to turn it on and off, he adored it!

We had a very peacful day after that and funnily enough he didn't grump in his pram anymore.

As it's made from a nice sturdy bright coloured plastic it is very easy to clean, just spray a little dettol over it and use a cloth to wipe over or even use a wipe.

I have got it down today ready to use when my son is in his pram the other way around (he faces me at the moment and lies flat) and it is still working fine, I gave it a wipe over and it looks as good as new.My four year old remembered it and was happy to actually give this one to his brother!

This is a fantastic accessorie for any pram!

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Average but must be better on the market

Like many young baby boys my son Josh is fiercely independant and always has been. It's frightening how much he wants to do on his own and how motivated he is to do it. I think even since he was tiny he has hated being restricted by his age and his size, and not being able to participate in basic functions that he wants to have created a lot of frustrations for him.

One particular problem we began having was when my son was about 8 months old. He's always loved being in his pram as he's so nosey and loves to watch people. It wasn't until he reached about 8 months that he began to put a time limit on his pram time. This made quite a lot of things difficult and if we were in a queue or not moving frequently enough he would voice his frustration that his boredom had created. Because he was mobile at a young age and walking by 10 months I don't think it helped that all he wanted to be doing was be on the floor moving himself around, not having mummy push him here there and everywhere!

After this had been going on for a little while I knew I needed to find something that I could use to distract him when boredom set in while we were shopping etc. Because if there is one thing I have learnt it's that no-one likes a screaming baby when your impatiently stuck in a queue and people look at you as though your a bad parent if your child cries in these instances! I knew it was time for a distraction!

I had seen various buggy steering wheels when I was out and about and wasn't sure if I liked the look of them or not. Some looked really fun and entertaining while others looked cheap and nasty and I pride myself in my son's appearance etc. Considering I had saved like mad to get my son a great Quinny buggy I didn't want to cheapen it by putting some cheap tat on the front-snobby I know but hey!

When I saw this particular Brilliant Start Buggy Driver in my local Early Learning Centre I did have a good look at it and thought of the versions I had seen it looked quite good. However I wasn't convinced enough to purchase it. A few weeks later we were visiting family in Cornwall and it was pouring with rain, we were stuck in Starbucks waiting for it to subside and my son was getting restless. E.L.C was right next door and I just had a lightbulb moment and went and bought the buggy driver. Probably more to ease the stares my son was attracting from previously chilled out coffee drinkers!

I paid £16.00 for mine and had to buy the batteries to go in it (2 xAA) which was reasonable I felt. It was green , turquoise and red and looking at it in more detail I was quite sure my son would enjoy playing with it!

The main feature of the Buggy Driver is of course the steering wheel which is right in the middle. It's a white large wheel which baby can hold and move round as if driving. Although at this stage my son didn't know about cars, steering etc he really enjoyed constantly turning the wheel while we walked around! He looked like he was driving us! In the centre of the wheel is a big black button which sounds the comical sounding 'beep'. Another favourite with children!

Next to the wheel is the ignition, it has a key sticking out which luckily isn't removable (most kids would otherwise throw this out within minutes as it's a firm favourite game with babies to watch mummies and daddies pick things up!) and this acts as the 'on' and 'off' of the whole driver. When on the toy will make noises when instigated, when off no noises will be heard but children can still play with the driver. This is useful if you are somewhere quiet like a library or book store etc.

On the opposit side of the steering wheel is the gear stick which can be in two directions - 'up' and 'down' this dictates whether music is playing or general noises that are attached to different actions with the driver. The tune that is played is an average musical tune, a little old fashioned and very repetative and annoying but the children seem to enjoy it and thats the main thing!

On the top of the wheel is the dashboard, this has lights which react and come on in response to the gear stick, the horn and the ignition and flash in accordance with the music. The rest of the bits on the dashboard are for decoration only and don't do anything except make the driver more like a car!

On either side of the driver itself is a movable, flexable 'wing' mirror. This was one of my sons favourite parts of the whole driver! He loved looking at himself in the mirror! And they rotate 360 degrees so he could also have fun turning them round and round! When I positioned them correctly Josh could look in the mirrors and see me smiling at him which he really enjoyed especialy because at this age they don't understand mirrors so they get very excited!

In order to attach to your pram it's quite simple, the theory is that there is a screw that operates two clips which you first looses to fit over the two sides of your pram and once in place you tighten the nut and bolt style locking system. Once you can't turn it anymore it's securely inplace. In order to create friction is some plastic grooves which help hold the driver in place.

Our experience with this is mixed. It's not overly expensive but ours broke quite quickly which was disappointing. Our Quinny pram has the seat fabric stretched over the sides of the pram itself which meant the driver didn't come in to contact with metal or plastic and it just couldn't grip the sides strongly enough so it kept falling down and squashing my sons legs which in turn made him frustrate because he couldn't move as easily. So we had to keep lifting it up and tightening it until the rubber grooves began to crumble off in small pieces and now one side has hardly any left. As a result the driver droops too low for it to distract my son and it just seems to lay limpy on top of his legs.

It's durability as a toy aside from this is quite good though, children in prams at this stage tend to really bring their weight down from above their heads through their arms and hit things, my son did this frequently and nothing in that sense ever broke and it's withstood some knocks in and out of the car etc. Considering it's a pram toy it's not waterproof though and say you get caught out in the rain I wouldn't like to think whether it would withstand this or not.

Entertainment wise it entertains my son for a short while in his pram. However it's usually when we put him straight in it that he plays with the driver. Which co-incidentaly has never been the problem as when he's first put in his pram it's a novelty and exciting to him. It's only after a while that he needs distracting and seeing as this is a long toy I can't store it anywhere on my pram to put on when needed. Plus it takes too long to screw on/off that would be inconviniant.

My son had this on his pram for a few months but not long. We don't use it any more and it's in the car sadly it's hardly used. He just didn't get the right use out of it. I think if our pram was made differently and could hold the driver in place we may have had more luck as it does seem like a good pram toy. However I can't bring myself to accept it's the best on the market so for now I'm still on the look out for a better way of distracting Josh.

For the minute though, a steady three stars.

Please visit www.elc.co.uk for more details.

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Perfect for any wriggly caterpillar!

Throughout the first year of my daughter's life she had a real problem being strapped into things or being held down. This would cause problems whilst being in the pram, car seat, and highchair and when I tried to rock her to sleep. For all of the other problems I found an ideal solution: car seat - music, highchair - food! And sleepy time - milk. The only problem that I failed to find a solution for was her pram. She would press her little body up to the straps so hard her face would go bright red, either in a struggle or concentration for freedom.

Despite the ELC Light & Sound Buggy Driver being designed from 3 months plus, my daughter received this for her first birthday. Initially I was sceptical about using it. I had seen these types of toys on buggies around town and my first impression was that they looked rather tatty. Admittedly, this one in particular looked better than any others that I had seen but I was still in doubt. I let my daughter play with it in the house for a little while to see if she would like it, and she did absolutely love it.

I decided I had nothing to lose trying it out on the pram for a day out, for a little while she did still struggle and didn't pay any attention to the toy. After a while she seemed to give up on the idea of getting herself out of the pram and gave the toy a little look. For the rest of the journey she played with the toy and didn't struggle for freedom as she usually would. She didn't look very happy, rather just slightly amused but she did laugh once which was definitely progress. For the next year or so we used the toy and it resulted in the end of her struggle for freedom.

The ELC Light & Sound Buggy Driver is basically a toy that can attach to the pram. As far as I am aware it comes in two colours. The multi coloured pictured above and a pink one. Both are the exact same just the colour is different. Its designed as a car, it has a steering wheel which beeps, a key (already attached) you turn this and it turns the toy on as well as making the noise of a starting car. There are two side mirrors, there is a sort of gear stick, I guess the toy is designed as an automatic as this can only move forward and back. There are indicators as well. Some of the functions make car related noises however some noises are totally irrelevant and some produce songs or melodies.

My daughter's favourite functions were the mirrors as she, like most babies had a fascination with her reflection. She also enjoyed pressing all of the buttons, turning the knobs and playing with all of the little devises to get the toy to play the song. This was a guarantee to make her laugh every time as it is a happy and bubbly tune. I would guess that the buggy driver was designed to allow babies and toddlers to think they were driving the pram, however if this was the idea, my daughter never made the connection. As she got older she did think she was driving a car, but never did she associate the toy with the pram.

The buggy driver can be bought for £20.00. This is the price I have found it selling at the most and as well as it being sold at ELC it is also available from Debenhams and Boots. The buggy driver comes fully assembled and ready to use in the box. It has large grip (almost claw like) holders which are activated by a turn mechanism. This has rubber on the inside which allows it to fit to the pram securely and without damaging the pram. The buggy driver is not designed for all pram types and it would not fit on your average travel system. It is designed more so for strollers. We have only ever used it on our McLaren stroller and it fitted perfectly. There was also enough room between the toy and my daughter to allow her to move around but the toy was still in arms reach for her to be able to play with. In a way I disagree with the age range of 3 months as I know at that age my daughter was still in her travel system and the way she was lay down in this would have not just made the buggy driver hanging above her head dangerous, she would have also not been able to reach it. I also think the buttons and devices are too advanced for a baby of 3 months and I think they would struggle to even turn the steering wheel. I think anything after 6 months is ideal as by that age not only will the baby of made the transition from travel system to stroller they will also be able to get some play and understanding from the buggy driver.

Overall I found this a very useful and pretty looking toy. My daughter enjoyed it and admittedly it did look ok on the pram. This is definitely one I would advice buying over some of the others available. It is very durable and sturdy and also easy to clean and maintain. The buggy driver requires AA batteries but I found the ones supplied lasted us for the year we used it. I don't know where ours was bought but I would double check if batteries are supplied as there is nothing worse than buying a new toy and then not having the batteries to operate it! (Talking from experience here!) The buggy driver is highly recommended for car or non car lovers alike, it's a very entertaining toy.

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A fun toy to make your child want to stay in the pushchair

I bought this to keep my son amused on long shopping trips and it really is worth the money.

I paid £20 for it but it does do a lot and is very convenient to use. It attaches to most pushchairs and fitted mine perfectly. It attaches at both side and is very secure once on so my son cannot pull it off but it is easy to get on and off as it has a sort of screw mechanism.

This buggy driver is really bright and colourful and looks good fun. It is in colours that make it suitable for both boys and girls but I think they also do a very pink version.

My little boy loves it as there is lots for him to do. There is a steering wheel, mirrors, ignition to turn, gear stick and it makes lots of noises. My son has had it since he was about 8 months old and he has had lots of use out of it. He is now 18 months and I think I will be removing it soon as he doesn't play with it for as long now that he is older. I wish I had bought it sooner because I think it would definately have attracted his attention when he was a bit younger.

It is made of plastic and is very strong and robust. It feels very well made and even though my toddler is very rough he hasn't been able to break anything on it. It is easy to clean and mine still looks like new and is in perfect condition.

I would definately recommend this to keep your little one amused on the go.

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Save your money

My son has a love/hate relationship with the pushchair, he loves it when its moving and he can sit and look at the world go by, but he has a very limited tolerance for the pushchair stopping. For a while we could pacify him with a dummy or a selection of toys hung off the pushchair but by 8 months this no longer worked; which meant school pickups and drop offs and shopping trips were a nightmare. After one particularly unsuccessful shopping trip I rushed into ELC and begged the lady to sell me something to keep him quiet. The lady sold me this, helped me put the batteries in, attached it to the pushchair and waved me on my way. I paid £15.

This item comes in pink (bleaugh) and a rather lovely blue/orange/yellow/red combination.....guess which one I went for.

The buggy driver comes with clips on the side, which you hook onto the bars of a pushchair and tighten to secure. This puts the steering wheel in front of the child so they can pretend to be driving the pushchair. The big plastic screw that you have to tighten to secure the driver is quite flimsy and over tightening makes it crack slightly so you have to be very careful about how much force you exert when putting this on the pushchair. I'm not sure how long this would last if you wanted to move it around a lot and attach it to lots of different things. It is adjustable in several places and will fix onto most brands of pushchair/ baby equipment.

On the main bar you get a steering wheel, an ignition key, a gear lever and two adjustable wing mirrors. If you choose to put the batteries in (2 AA) then when you press the button in the middle of the steering wheel you get a beep, the gear lever makes a revving sound/beeping sound and makes lights flash. To turn the whole thing on or off you turn the ignition key, which makes an engine sound and turns a light on. Above the ignition key are two small buttons; pressing the first gives you a tinny 'She'll be coming round the mountain' and the other gives you 'Pop goes the weasel'. The steering wheel turns, the gear lever moves up and down, the wing mirrors swivel and the key turns. It is bright and colourful musical plastic at its best.

So, did it work? No is the short answer. It obstructed my son's view enough that he got even more agitated, even when we were just walking along. Additionally it attracted lots of other children, especially at the school gates who wanted to play with it, much to my son's disgust. Occasionally he would half heartedly press a button, look in a mirror or swivel the wheel, but it spent much of its 'buggy life' draped over the handlebars getting in my way. I gave it a week but it got to the point where he would scream if he saw it on the buggy and going anywhere was even more difficult. Another unfortunate side effect was that at certain angles he could see me pushing the pushchair and would either get cross that I wasn't getting him out, or would want some of whatever I was (sneakily) eating or drinking.

However, my five year old loves it. I don't know whether its because she was deprived of these sorts of toys as a baby. When her friends come over they have made some fabulous imaginary games using this toy e.g. pretending they are bus drivers driving to magical lands. She loves pretending she is driving the car and it has provided her with rather a lot of play value. Of course since she is playing with it and wants to use it, this has prompted her brother to see it as a more desirable object and there have been quite a few fights over it! At 12 months he will occasionally press the horn button or the buttons to get the music to play, but he seems unbothered by the rest of the functions. He also cannot turn the key by himself yet, so he will just press a button and get upset if no sound comes out immediately-not helpful when I am cooking tea or dealing with his sister!

I wouldn't buy it again and it wouldn't be something I would buy someone as a gift either. We have had more success with board books hanging off the pushchair bar instead and I would recommend those over this buggy driver. If you have a placid baby who is happy to sit in a pushchair then you won't need this, if you have a wild child like me then its probably 50/50 whether they like it or not. I would have been happier paying around £12 for this and I don't think its worth paying the £20 full price tag, especially as I haven't had the use out of it that I was expecting. I would be even more annoyed if my five year old hadn't taken a shine to it and probably would have passed it on by now. The muscic is very tinny and restarts every time the child presses the button which is guaranteed to send me round the bend after five minutes of continuous pressing! I have noticed a few of them around and havent ever seen a child actually playing with it yet.

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Good toy if it fitted to our car seat

I was looking for a toy to keep my baby daughter amused in the car when I saw this in the Early Learning Centre. She had a toy bar when she was in the first car seat but when she moved to a high back booster she needed something else to entertain her. I bought her one and tried to fit it to our car seat. We have a Mothercare Sola car seat and it initially fitted well and I was able to tighten it using the adjustable grips. To start with everything seemed fine but within 2 minutes my daughter had managed to kick the whole unit off. I tried to tighten it again but I couldn't get it to stay on at all. As this was our whole reason for buying it I was disappointed with it.

However, the toy itself is a lovely item to play with. Once the key ignition is turned, the toy makes car noises. There are two songs that can be played, which do get very annoying after a while, and some lights and mirrors on it. The steering wheel can also be turned and there is a horn that can be pressed. My daughter loved playing with this on its own and if it works on other car seats or the buggy then it is well worth it.

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great for what it does and will keep your child entertain whilst your busy shopping etc

We bought this for my son at 5 and a half months old after asking a member of the ELC about it. It was a nice step up from the standard soft toy and rattle buggy arches.

At the time my son had just started to sit up in his push chair and with the coordination he had as well he had easy reach to it. To start with he was unsure about it and spent most of the time just staring at the two mirrors which we had tilted so view him as well as giving us a view of his face which pushing the buggy. Eventually after finding the light and sound it kept him more amused whilst we pushed him when shopping or walking to relavites house etc. He pertiular liked the horn sound and often would just sit there whilst bashing the middle button much to the amusement of us and some passers by.

In all there is two different song it play, (which btw will we quickly become annoying after repetitive play) revving sound on turning the key, indicator sounds on the other side which lite up which arrow light behind the wheel along with the elusive horn. It only takes two AA batteries and the do last a vast amount of time. It was easy to know when the needed changing as the songs do start to warble alot. The wheel does move and its nice to make a game out of it when my son turned it one way, i turned the buggy that way which gave us both a giggle.

The grips on it are easy attached to most buggies, but here in where i find a problem with this. Ideally we wanted entertainment for both the buggy and car seat, hence asking the ELC staff, yet this would not attached to my sons car seat no matter how wide the grip was. This is would be its only con. Even when we change the car seat, it would only stay on for a matter of minutes. But that take away the fact that this is a great toy for on the move.

By the start of this year, my son had found how to kick it off even on its tightest gripping, so i did have to come off. But even with this it still works every time. It very durable even after be dropped serveral times.

Overall, its great for what it does but you might have to look at alternatives for in car entertainment.

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THIS IS A SIMPLY GENIUS TOY.

When my son was a baby, for some reason he hated going in the pram. He would be so upset and despite numerous toys and pacifiers, he would be miserable until the outing was over. Hoping that he would soon grow out of it, I was dismayed to find that the older he was getting the more determind he was to not remain in his pram without a battle of wills. I was finding this exausting and so replaced the pram with a pushchair. I also knew that I was going to have to hunt something down, that would capture his attention and amuse him while we were out and about.

A trip to my local early learning centre proved fruitful. I came across an excellent toy concept that suited all my requirements. My son loves cars, trucks, lorries anything with wheels and my boy is intrested. He has always been this way. So when I saw this steering wheel station I thought it was ideal.

The actual toy is made from brightly coloured plastic. It is so bright, cheerful and appealing. The toy consists of a steering wheel which has a big yellow horn in the middle which makes the funniest noise when pressed. There is an ignition area which holds the car key. Baby can start an engine noise by turning the key. Also there are adjustable wing mirrors in which the child can see themselves or what is to the side of them.

My son totally adored this toy. I found it made such a difference to our out door experiences. Where as before I would make excuses not to go anywhere, now I couldn't wait for us to get up and out in the mornings. The lights, sounds and colours on this toy are great for stimulation. I found that when my son was very little he would kick his legs and giggle with excitement at the sounds played when he pressed the button.

As he got older and became slightly bored with pretending to drive all the time. I used to keep him occupied by asking him to point to different colours on the toy. I was so pleased with this as not only was this activity keeping him engaged, it was also promoting his colour knowledge and speech.

The Buggy driver itself, attaches with not too much bother onto the front of the pushchair using the two screws attached to the toy. You can turn these screws in order to make the toy more secure. At first I thought that this was quite tricky to fit into place but soon I was attaching the Buggy driver with great ease.

I do not know what I would have done were it not for this magnificent toy. It really did save my sanity as I was slowly going demented by him playing up in his pushchair. But as soon as I fitted this toy he was like a different child. He would sit and steer and when I'd see we're turning he would put the indicator on, (which makes the sound of an indicator clicking) The only thing I found quite embarrasingly funny was when he would beep his horn at people who were in our way. Which sparked a few witty comments regarding him suffering from road rage!!

This toy certainly served over and above it's purpose. He was 2 and a half before he became disintresed in this toy. He was not bothering with it anymore. The batteries (2xaa) were still pretty good when the toy went to a friend.

This toy is really a simple idea, unyet I think it is simply genius to come up with a toy that captrures the child's imagination and attention at a time when mum needs baby to be distracted the most. Also I am thrilled with the sturdy nature of this toy. It is tough and withstood quite a lot of heavy handling. But due to it's robust nature this toy remained scratch free. It also remained clean and cheerful, due to frequent wipes with antibacterial cloths.

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elc light and sound buggy driver, with steering wheel and lots more

I bought this for my son when he was just a few months old for around £20 from the early learning centre and it was a great buy as it attaches to most prams and buggies as there is adjustable arms on it and also this allows it to be attached to most car seats as well to provide great fun for your child when out in the car.

There are lots of different activities to keep your child amused and entertained while you are out and about such as the steering wheel which can be turned and has a horn which when pressed creates a horn sound. There are indicators which flash and mirrors which can be adjusted so that your child can see themselves in them, which was a particular favourite for my son as he loves looking at himself and making faces. When the ignition key is turned it starts up the buggy driver and makes realistic car noises.

It comes in two different colours pink for the girls and multi-coloured for either boys or girls. It only takes a few minutes to put it on and take it off for when you are folding your buggy away and it does not take up a lot of space so it is very easy to store away for the next time. Once put in place it can be tightened to prevent it from falling off or from your child pulling it off so there is no need to worry about this factor, as I did to start with but then realised that there was no way my son would get it off. I great buy for keeping young children amused and lets them pretend they are steering there buggy or if in the car that they are driving it. Would definitely recommend this to everyone with young children or to anyone who is expecting a baby as it is great value for money.

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This toy is brilliant for keeping little ones quiet when out and about

Our daughter got this toy for christmas when she was 4 months old. We actually have the girls version which is completely pink! At first our daughter was too young to use it on her pushchair as she couldn't sit up so we actually attached it to our bumbo for a little while instead. The steering wheel has grips on each side which can be tightened like a screw so we just attached it to the play tray and this enabled her to play with it.

The buggy driver, in my opinion, is a lovely toy and has lots of different activities to keep little ones amused whilst out and about (or at home in a bumbo for the little ones!) My favourite part of the toy is that you have to turn the key in the ignition to turn it on and it makes the sound of a car starting - very realistic :) Other features include indicators which are operated by a little switch that moves up and down - there are two little triangle lights at the top of the toy which flash when you move this switch and it also makes an idicator ticking sound; two little wing mirrors that are on a rotating ball so they can be angled perfectly so your little one can see themselves or things around them; two little buttons on the left hand side which plays two different tunes; and finally a little horn that beeps!

This toy has been played with quite a lot in and out of our house. Our daughter is now 21 months old and still likes to have it attached to her pushchair occasionally when we are out and about, but we have now also managed to attach it to her car seat which helps to keep her quiet for a little while when we are on long journeys.

Overall a very good, well made toy which is very versatile and provides hours of entertainment.

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A brilliant toy that will last for ages.

I bought the Light & Sound Buggy Driver in pink (well, after 2 boys I it had to be girly!) for my Daughter when she was a few months old & it has proven invaluable. When she was very tiny she would lie in the pushchair & watch the lights flash, then as she got older it would keep her amused on many a long shopping trip. I also found that it fitted quite wasily to our highchair so I very often used it to entertain her whilst I was preparing dinner.

Although it's universal it can be a little fiddly to fit sometimes but it's not too bad once you get used to it. The batteries last for ages too, we've never had to change them in the whole 18 months we've owned it. The guidlines are that this will last till age 2, my Daughter is now 20 months & I have noticed that she is staring to outgrow the toy as it no longer holdes her attention. I will be passing it on to my friends little girl who I'm sure will have hours of fun.

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Another fantastic toy from ELC which caters for a large age range.

I bought one of these for my now 15month old son last year. On his old buggy we had an arch that had farm animals and he had outgrown that and I was looking for a sturdy toy that would keep him occupied for a while whilst in his buggy.

In our local ELC I noticed they had these for £12.50 and as he loves cars I decided to pick one up.

The next time we were going out I decided to try it out. The plastic was very strong and sturdy: which I do tend to find with all ELC toys. There were two screws at each side which allowed me to position the toy at the correct height and tightness at the time and can be adjusted as they grow.

There are 2 mirrors either side (like wing mirrors) which can be adjusted so little ones can see themselves in it. A gear stick makes reverse and revving noises, the engine key switches the full toy on and makes an engine starting noise. A large chunky steering wheel sits in the middle of the toy and is great for small hands to grab and turn with ease. The horn in the middle is my sons favourite part making a beep beep sound. Also there are 2 buttons which play short tunes. With all the noises there are flashing lights.

This toy takes 2AA batteries and I have had the toy around 6+months and have yet to replace them. I found it has lasted a long time and is still in excellent condition after a lot of use and transportation in the car etc.

If in a cafe or someplace quiet I do tend to switch it off as it is rather noisy which is good in large crowds as the child is still able to hear and be entertained but if it had a volume control it would be even better to suit all situations.

I use the green, blue and orange one but they also have a pink girly one aswell.

The toy is recommended from 3months to 2years so it can get a lot of use for a great price.

I would recommend this toy for people who use the buggy/pram a lot and whose kids are interested in cars.